Landlubber Time

"The children we nestled all snug in their beds...."

We made our Pilgrimage back to Chattanooga & then to New Orleans & then back to Chattanooga & then east almost to North Carolina’s Outer Banks & then north to our boat on the Potomac River.  I get tired again just thinking about the trip.

Just like old times

Our first stop in Chattanooga found us meeting up with our best boating friends Leigh & Clint & spending 3 days on their boat “Barefootin” on the Tennessee River.  We took a short ride down river to Guntersville (AL) State Park, which was preparing for their Shrimp Festival.  We ate dinner at the park lodge & enjoyed a magnificent view of the River from the mountaintop.  We brought our swim suits & rafts, so we could act like our “old times together” and take Leigh’s “girls” swimming. We tried out Clint’s new dinghy and propane motor, which he recently obtained so that he could anchor for the night & still get the dogs to shore.   All in all, a very relaxing, enjoyable time.

 

Can you guess what flavor of ice cream is
Madeleine's favorite?

It was a short visit to New Orleans, but we did our best to spoil our granddaughter Madeleine.  Chris & Ali just purchased a vacant lot, so they’re excited about building & owning their first house.  I had a scheduled dermatology appointment, which ended with a biopsy of a spot on my face.  Can we all say “skin cancer”?

 

A jazz band parades around the mall as part of a
bridal show.  Only in New Orleans!

On the return trip to Chattanooga, our special friends John & Susan went way beyond the “call of duty”.  We had planned to stay with them for a couple days, but when they were suddenly called to Texas for family issues, they left the house key with us along with a full refrigerator.  We can’t thank them enough for their hospitality.  But we’d sure like to see them next time we’re in town!

Happy Birthday 92 times!

The main event this trip was an early celebration of Sue’s mother’s 92^nd birthday.  We bought 5 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for all the residents of the care facility, so, at least for a couple moments, everyone liked us.  Her mother enjoyed the small gifts she received & REALLY enjoyed the doughnut.  We’ll have to do it again next year!

As we drove east to retrieve our own car, which was in Bellhaven N.C. (right next to the Outer Banks), we realized how wide that state really is.  From west to east, NC is almost 560 miles, which makes for a long travel day.  The western part is all mountains (do we remember from our geography class where the Smoky Mountains are?), and we saw lots of folks on the Ocoee & Natahala Rivers either kayaking or white-water rafting.  Maybe we should sign up for this next time in town!  Or will it be like sky-diving at age 85?

While in NC, we did note that the current tobacco crop is doing nicely, so all you smokers & chewers should be happy.  As we drove our own car back north, the odometer turned over 200,000 miles, so it has finally reached maturity.  Maybe we should start thinking about a new car!